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Topic: Keep On Yappin' (Read 1178 times)

"...A new study published today in Science reports men and woman actually use roughly the same number of words daily..."

"...But in the end, the sexes came out just about even in the daily averages: women at 16,215 words and men at 15,669. In terms of statistical significance, Pennebaker says, 'It's not even remotely close to different.' He does point out that women tend to jaw more about other people, whereas men are apt to hold forth on more concrete objects—so the stereotypes of ladies as gossips and guys engaging in car talk can live on..."

I was reading this article earlier as well, but what I found most interesting was, 'Men showed a slightly wider variability in words uttered, and boasted both the most economical speaker (roughly 500 words daily) and the most verbose yapping at a whopping 47,000 words a day.'

Of course, what was interesting wasn't that these were both men, I think this study shows that gender is relatively insignificant on this particular point, but what are the differences that created this variation? Are they Psychological or Genetic? Are they effected by social status, family position, etc.? Interesting study but the scope was far too narrow to provide any truly interesting data and insights into the human animal.

Good questions... I wonder if it isn't a lot of nuture... for example, boys typically play with building sets, army men, etc. as they grow up, which would be aimed more towards accomplishing a goal and thinking about the process that gets you there; while girls typically play with stuff like tea parties, doll houses, etc., which would be more aimed towards conversation about more personal issues.